


Cherub Tony

by AnonEhouse



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Crack Treated Seriously, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-31
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-01-27 16:50:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1717712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In this AU, Tony Stark dies as a child and of course becomes a stubborn little angel, determined to make his Momma smile. Even if he does have to sneak away from Heaven.</p><p>(I didn't use major character death tag, because Tony certainly doesn't think he's dead. He doesn't even remember dying.)</p><p>EDIT: Somehow Tony talked me into FIVE more chapters, where he does more Fixing for people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

Tony stuck out his tongue and caught it between his teeth. He had to be very quiet or the nursery school angel would catch him and bring him back.

Angel nursery was all right, but Tony missed his momma. She was crying the last time he saw her, and that just wasn't right. He'd told Gabriel and Michael and Raphael that she needed him, but they just smiled and said he was too little to understand the mysterious ways, and after all, she'd come to Heaven in a little while.

Well, Tony didn't want to wait. He'd watched the archangels and he was pretty sure he knew how this flying worked. It wasn't the wings. Not really. A simple flight dynamic equation clearly showed that they were too small even if the shape of the body made a decent fuselage, which it didn't. And shoulder muscles obviously weren't strong enough. So it didn't matter that five year old Tony had stubby gray downy wings and his flight feathers were bare pinions.

All an angel needed was belief. Tony sneaked to the edge of the school cloud and spread his fluffy wings. "I can fly!" he said and jumped off.

 

It took a lot longer than he thought to get home. He kept getting lost. And he had to hide from the angels who were looking for him. And sometimes he got tired and had to sleep in a hidden place. He found interesting things sometimes, too, like Captain America sleeping in the ice. He wasn't sure why the Captain wanted to sleep there; it couldn't be comfortable, but grown ups do funny things.

But he finally felt he was close to momma. He saw a big car as he came lower. Momma and Dad were in the back seat. Tony smiled. Momma was going to be so glad to see him, and maybe even Dad would be pleased.

Then he frowned. Someone bad was coming. He could feel it, all angels could. It wanted to hurt his Momma. And Dad, too. He looked around until he felt the bad-wrong man. The man was all twisted and broken in his soul. Someone had tried to make him a devil. People weren't supposed to be devils while they were alive. Tony hadn't listened to all the lessons, but he was sure of that.

He flew down right into the bad-wrong man's face. Oh, his arm was shiny! Tony liked it. But the soul should be shiny, too. Tony stuck his tongue out again, and reached in, fixing it. While he was in there, he told the man how to find Captain America. He didn't like to think of the Captain sleeping in the cold.

The fixed man was angry, but he was angry at bad people, which sounded all right to Tony. He was tired, though. It took all he had to fly back to Momma and curl up next to her. She saw him, he was sure of it. He could see how her face lit up and she smiled the smile she had just for him.

And then Michael showed up, and Tony had to go back to the nursery. Oh, well... Momma was happy, now, that was what he really wanted. He sighed and went back to trying to figure out World Peace. Really, what's the point of being an angel if you can't make people be nice to each other? 

Tony would figure it out.


	2. Tony continues to FIX

Tony looked at the sparkly stuff inside the big bomb and frowned. "Go to sleep!" He poked at the uranium until it settled into a stable isotope that wouldn't fission no matter what you did. "Good boy!" He patted the bomb casing and giggled at the thought of how silly people would feel when their bombs wouldn't blow up. 

There had been a lot of bombs, so many that Tony couldn't get to all of them today, so he had to do some yesterday, and even earlier. Flying back in time was easy, because he was little. He wasn't supposed to do that. Probably. But when the class was discussing the ethics of time, Tony was busy building a special sort of cloud, a smart cloud, that rained when enough people prayed for it to rain and then there was a fuss about that not being in the greater plan. Michael finally said he could keep Fluffy, but Gabriel said Michael was spoiling Tony and while they were talking, Tony took Fluffy for a walk.

And well, there were all those bombs lying around where someone could trip over them and get hurt. So Tony fixed them. Angel Nursery was boring; it was much more fun to fix things than to sing hosannahs with the other cherubs. 

Tony had fixed all the bombs and he was bored again, so he rode Fluffy to a laboratory, where they were trying to make the sparkly stuff do work instead of blow up, which Tony thought was a fine idea.

"Oh, no!" he said when he got there and saw the man pushing the sparkly in the wrong way. "Stop!" But the man didn't hear him, because cherubs were supposed to be neither seen nor heard. Tony decided that was a stupid rule. He flapped between the man and the sparkly machine, wings spread and halo lit up as bright as it would go. "STOP!"

The man backed away and sat down, only he missed the chair and fell on the floor. Tony fixed the sparkly and then he turned back to the man. "I'm Tony, but don't tell on me." He sat on top of the machine and swung his feet. "Not 'sposed to talk to people. But you were pushing the sparkly too hard and it was going to blow up." Tony frowned. "Didn't you know you shouldn't push sparkly?"

"I.... I... God, I'm hallucinating." The man picked up a bottle and drank from it.

"You shouldn't drink and derive," Tony said. "That's a joke," he added. "My Daddy said that." The man was still staring at him. "It's math. You know?" Tony sighed. "What's your name?"

"Buhh... Buu... Brian Banner. Oh, God, oh God, I'm as mad as my father." The man put his hands up to his face and started crying. "I'm a monster, too."

"Oh, please don't cry." Tony flitted over to Brian and bent down so he could look up into his face. "You're not a monster. You're not crazy, and you're not sick," he said seriously. "God loves you." He wrinkled his nose. "But drinking makes you feel bad and makes you do stupid things, maybe you should stop?"

Brian picked up the bottle and looked at it. Then he looked at Tony. And finally he stood and looked at the data scrolling from the machine. "It was overloaded. I could have been killed. Or worse. I could have been... damaged." He threw the bottle into a wastebasket and fell to his knees. "It's a miracle!"

"Well, no, because I'm not s'posed to do miracles," Tony said. "That's for saints. I just... did a little fix."

"I'm grateful, oh Lord! I will sin no more! I won't drink, and I won't get angry, and I'll listen to my wife!"

Tony fluttered backwards, mildly alarmed by Brian's enthusiasm. "That's good. 'specially you should be nice to your wife."

"She wants us to have children. Should we?"

Tony was totally unused to anyone asking his advice on anything. "Um... oh, yes! You should have lots of children and tell them all about Cherub Tony, so I can come and play with them without scaring them. Would you do that?"

"YES, YES, I will!"

"Ok, bye now. I have to go," Tony said. He whistled for Fluffy and flew away. He hoped Brian did remember to tell his kids about Tony. It would be nice to have someone to play with who wasn't always singing hosannah.


	3. If Tony had a Hammer

"If you can't hold it any longer, you can't," Tony told Fluffy. He peered over the edge of the cloud at the night dark landscape of New Mexico. He didn't see any city or road lights. "Maybe no one will notice. You can rain now."

Tony flitted down underneath Fluffy; playing in the rain was fun. Other clouds gathered to join Fluffy, and the rain came down heavier, pounding the dusty dirt until Tony could smell it even from up high. "Ooh! I could make mud pies!" Tony zoomed down and was happily patting mud when he got a feeling that someone was really unhappy nearby. Leaving his mud to melt, Tony circled around until he saw a funny sort of building, something put together fast and not meant to stay, Tony could tell. He followed the unhappy feeling until he saw the big man crying over a rock. No, not a rock. It was a big hammer. It was a very nice hammer, and the man wanted it, but it was too heavy for him to pick up.

Tony felt sorry for him. He didn't like it when he couldn't do things, either. He really, really, really wasn't supposed to let people see him. Michael said so. Tony liked Michael, but he didn't think it would hurt to watch the big man, and make sure he felt better before Tony left.

People took the big man, all muddy and sad, inside the building, and talked to him. The hammer was a really special hammer, special like Fluffy was special, and Tony felt even sorrier for poor Thor. He decided to just _look_ at Thor to see if he could figure out what was wrong.... oh, Thor wasn't like everyone else!

So... that meant he was a _different_ people, and not the people Tony wasn't supposed to let see him! Tony fluttered into the little room where Thor was sitting all alone after everyone had talked to him, looking really sad. "Hello!" Tony said brightly.

Thor looked up at him. "Hello? I did not know there were any winged Midgardians." He didn't sound very interested.

"When you go to heaven, you get wings." Tony tugged at his halo. "And a shiny, too."

"Heaven... ah." Thor's eyebrows lifted in comprehension. "This is different from Asgard. The ones who leave us stay elsewhere. It is forbidden to mingle with them."

Tony made a wing shrug. "I'm not s'posed to," he admitted. "But, you know, I like people." He sat on Thor's lap and reached up to pat him on the cheek. "I like you. You shouldn't be sad. I'm sure you can get your hammer back. You just gotta keep trying."

Thor looked like he was about to cry again. "I am unworthy to wield Mjolnir. She repudiates me." He sniffled. "Father sent me here, weak and alone, to punish me for my heedlessness."

"Um." Tony wasn't exactly sure what 'heedlessness' was. But he knew about Fathers, and punishments. "Do you know what you did wrong?"

"I think so. It seemed so simple to me. The Jotun have always been our enemies, battling them is how a warrior gains honor! But I did not seek Odin's permission before breaking the truce." Thor sighed. "I wished to enjoy the excitement of true battle, of pushing myself to my limits and I did not think what harm I might do."

"Oh." Tony thought about it. "I don't think beating people is much fun. Couldn't you maybe make friends with these Jotun?"

"Friends? With Frost Giants? It is impossible!"

"So, it would be harder than fighting them?"

"Yes!" Thor paused, with his mouth slightly open. Then he said, "You are right, little one. To forge a lasting alliance with the Jotun would indeed be an heroic act, worthy of far greater sagas than tales of battle. But I can do nothing here. I cannot even speak to my father, to let him know I have changed."

"Maybe I could go to see your father, and tell him you're sorry and you promise to be good?"

Thor's eyes lit up. "Can you find him?"

"Sure!" Tony really didn't know how, but he'd figure something out. "I'll go right now!" Tony flew out of the room and over to Thor's hammer. "Hello, Mjolnir." Now that he was close, he could tell that the hammer was sort of a person, like Fluffy. "Thor's sorry. Could you tell me how to find his father and tell him that? So he could get you back? It's no fun sitting in a rock, is it?" He patted the hammer. "Please?"

Mjolnir was stubborn. After arguing a few minutes, Tony decided to go back to Thor and see if he knew any way to sweet talk his hammer. 

Thor was even more unhappy when Tony returned. "You need not seek my father now, little friend. My brother came to tell me that Odin has gone to join the warriors in Valhalla. That is, our 'Heaven'," Thor explained.

"He has? Oh. Well, then I'll go talk to him in Valhalla. That will be easy, because Heaven is Heaven, even if you look at it differently." Tony grinned and flew away without waiting for Thor's response.

 

He looked, and he looked, and he had to hide a few times from Michael, but while Tony found Valhalla and talked to a lot of people who said they knew Odin, no one had seen him. Discouraged, Tony flew back to Thor.

 

"I'm sorry. I looked everywhere in Valhalla, and Odin's not there. Are you sure your brother said that?"

"Loki said..." Thor stood up suddenly, knocking the chair over. "No, brother! Did you wish the throne so badly? I would have given it to you!" Thor threw his arms out wide. A wind sprang up from nowhere. Tony's feathers were ruffled. "HEIMDALL!" Thor roared. "BEWARE LOKI! DEFEND ODIN!"

The wind faded. Nothing else happened. Thor fell to his knees. "This is all my doing. I should have died that day. I would die now, if it would undo the harm my unthinking rashness has wrought."

Tony was alarmed. "I don't think it works that ...."

The wall burst, shattered by Mjolnir flying to Thor's hand. Thor stood, surrounded by lightning, clothed in armor, and with a really nice red cape flying out behind him.

"Oh, well, maybe it does work that way for your people, Thor."

Thor laughed and spun his hammer. People were shouting and running, but the hammer spun faster and then Thor was flying. "Good bye, little Tony!"

Tony looked at the smashed wall and the smashed ceiling, and all the people running around, shouting. "Um, Fluffy, I think we'd better go back to the nursery now."


	4. Tony Plays Tag, and Digs Up Moles

Tony and Fluffy were playing tag, when Fluffy suddenly disappeared. Tony was impressed; usually he had to pretend not to see Fluffy so as not to make Fluffy feel bad. 

"Fluffy? Wheeeree arrre you?" He flew around for several minutes, and then gave up. There wasn't a cloud in sight anywhere. "Ollie, Ollie, Oxen Free!"

Fluffy popped up out of nowhere. "How did you do that?" Tony flew over to Fluffy and discovered a whole giant invisible flying battleship that wasn't invisible once you got past the funny mirrors on the sides and bottom. "OOOoh! How pretty!" Tony landed on the flight deck and looked at all the airplanes. Some of them had sparkly bombs, but there were lots of people around and they might notice Tony putting the sparkly to sleep. Now that he knew about the invisible ship, he could come back tomorrow, or yesterday, and fix the bombs.

But as long as he was here, he could just _look_. Michael couldn't mind that, could he? Tony told Fluffy to stay near the ship while he went inside. There were so many interesting things happening on the ship! And so many interesting people! Tony particularly liked the black pirate, who must be the captain. It was a little disappointing that he didn't have a parrot or even a monkey. 

Tony flitted around the place where the Pirate Captain gave orders and everyone was working, working... except... one man was playing a game on his computer. Tony flew next to him to cheer him on. It was a lot of fun. Tony started thinking about making a game like it to put in the Angel Nursery, to play in between singing Hosannah. He looked into the computer, and found Galaga hidden on a file that could only be accessed if you knew a secret code.

Codes are really just mathematical permutations, and Tony was _good_ at math, so he ran through all the permutations, using a lot of yesterdays to make it faster. He found some games, and some videos of people kissing and ick, he hurried past those and then he found dark, feels wrong, bad, stuff. At first he thought it was another kind of game, people playing Spies, but the more he looked at it, the more it seemed they were really Not Nice People, and they were LYING, which is always very bad.

Tony tried to think what to do, how to warn the Nice Pirate about the Not Nice People. Tony's been trying to be good and not let people see him. Well, except the people who already know him, like the Banner children. They don't tell anyone about him, so that's ok. Tony was still puzzling it over when Pirate Captain greeted a couple of men.

"Ready for another mission, Captain, Sergeant?"

Tony looked up. "CAPTAIN! Yay!" Captain America and the man whose soul Tony had fixed were standing next to the Pirate Captain, talking serious and feeling really good. He was sure they would take care of the Not Nice People if they knew about them.

Galaga guy was just about to finish a level. Tony saw the computer was going to give him a bonus level, and he had an idea. He fixed the game so the hidden codes for the bonus level instead opened up the file of the Not Nice People. Faces and names came up, but Tony couldn't bring up the _feel_ of them. They were just pictures. He hadn't thought about that.

Galaga guy was surprised, and he made a noise. Not a loud noise, and then he tried to shut down the game, but Tony wouldn't let it end.

"Agent, what are you..." Pirate Captain came and stood behind Galaga guy. "Those are secured personnel files."

"Yes, sir, Director Fury, sir, I know. I didn't open them." Galaga guy kept hitting the keys, but Tony kept the computer showing more and more pictures. "It shouldn't even be possible to access them from this console."

Captain America and Fixed Soul man joined Pirate Captain Fury (Tony thought that was a great name for a Pirate Captain). Fixed Soul man pointed at the computer. "I know that man. He's..." he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Hydra."

Pirate Captain Fury glared at the computer. "Well, gentlemen, it seems we have some moles to uncover."

Tony wondered what moles had to do with anything.


	5. Rain, Rain, Go Away

After visiting Valhalla, Tony thought that other heavens might have more interesting Angel Nurseries. At least they might sing different songs. 

"Hello," he said to a little girl cherub who was curled up at the back of her Angel Nursery in a heaven called Janna, looking sad. "You're very pretty," he added, because it was true. Her hair was long and smooth and black, her eyes were big and brown, her wings were shiny pink, with gold speckles, and her robe was covered all over with flowering vines. "I like your robe, too." His robe was white, mostly, except that sometimes it got mud or grease on it, but he was a boy, and boys were supposed to get dirty. Momma had said so, he was pretty sure.

"Thank you," she said politely, "My mother made it for me." Then she patted the soft carpet she was sitting on so he sat next to her. 

"I'm Tony. And I have a pet cloud. Fluffy is very nice, would you like to meet him?" Tony wanted her to smile. He was sure she had a pretty smile.

"My name is Homa. Where is Fluffy?" Homa looked around the nursery where all the cherubs were playing and singing, and being very cherub, keeping the grown angels busy watching them.

"He has to stay outside. He's not house-broken." Tony stood up and held out his hand. "We can fly to him. He's really, really close."

Homa frowned. "I can't fly."

"Sure you can! I'll show you."

"All right."

 

Homa caught on to believing to fly very quickly, but she never smiled. Finally Tony asked her, "Why are you sad?"

Homa picked at a loose thread on her gown. "I miss my father. Mother says he will come someday, but I miss him now."

"Oh. He must miss you, too. Why don't we go see him?"

"Can we? Can we, really?"

"Sure! It's easy!" Tony didn't know if it would take as long as it had for him to find his momma, but he wouldn't mind if it took a long time. Homa was pretty, and she was nice, and smart, too.

 

"Your daddy's down there?" Tony asked. "That doesn't look like a village. You said you lived in a village." They were lying on Fluffy looking over the edge at a narrow space between mountains. There were nets over boxes and big things, and there were people walking around, but there weren't any houses or gardens or shops, like Homa had described.

"He's there. That's not where we lived." Homa flew off of Fluffy, and Tony followed. Once they were below the nets, Tony could see the boxes and things more clearly.

"That's my name!" he said, pointing to the nearest crate. "Stark! They don't belong here! Daddy made them for American sogers!" 

"These are bad people," Homa said. Her wings spread wide, and trembled. She pointed to a dark hole in the side of the nearest mountain. "My father's in there."

Tony nodded and took her hand.

 

It was horrible. They couldn't even let her father see them, because the bad people were all around, shouting at him, and shoving him and being really mean. Homa cried all the way back to Janna, and Tony felt terrible. He had to fix this.

 

Tony thought, and he thought, and he thought. It would be all right letting Homa's daddy see them, but they needed to make the bad people go away. And he was NOT going to let bad people keep his daddy's bombs and guns. He could fix the bombs one at a time, but as soon as they noticed, they'd get mad and probably hurt Homa's daddy. 

Maybe he could make it all blow up at once? Well, that wouldn't be good, because they'd run to hide in the cave and Homa still wouldn't get to see her daddy.

Fluffy nudged Tony. He was bored, and he wanted to rain. "No, not there, Fluffy," Tony said when he looked down and considered the ravines in the landscape below. "All the poor rabbits would have their homes washed.... oooh. Yes!" Tony jumped up. "Fluffy! Go call all your friends!" He flew hard, he had to get everything done before Fluffy had to go. Fluffy sometimes couldn't wait.

 

Thor hovered over the camp, with Homa and Tony, all of them hidden by the night and Fluffy, who was rain-dark and waddling with it. "Are you certain this is wise, little one?" Thor asked. "I do not wish to commit an act of war against Midgard."

"My daddy made the guns and bombs, but the bad people STOLE them."

Thor's expression cleared. "Ah, they are but sneak thieves and brigands. Yes, I see that you would not wish your father's weapons to be dishonored. Say no more. Shall we begin?"

"Yes! Fluffy, tell them to let go!" Tony grabbed Homa's hand and the two of them flew down, zipping around the bad people and down into the scary black cave, deeper and deeper, with them following Homa's pull to her daddy. When they found him he was sleeping on a cot in a cave with a locked door. He had a thin blanket wrapped around him, and his eyeglasses neatly folded on a stool.

Thor used his lightning on the bombs. It was so loud in the caves, Tony thought it would really hurt your ears outside. Bad people were shouting. Tony figured out the lock on the door and opened it. "Hello!" He hovered in the doorway, and remembered his manners. "I'm Tony Stark. Pleased to meet you."

"I..." Homa's daddy jumped to his feet, and fumbled his glasses on. "I am... Ho Yinsen, and obviously I have just lost my mind."

"No, no, daddy! We're here to take you home!" Homa flew over to her daddy and tugged at his hand. "Come on! We'll take you home, to Gulmira!" 

Tony grabbed Yinsen's other hand. "Hurry! It's gonna get wet in here!"

"Wet?" Yinsen said just as the flash flood caused by hundreds of clouds raining in the mountains leading to the camp reached the cave. The water poured in, dragging people and tangled machinery and armaments. The cherubs flew up and took Yinsen with them. He laughed. "If I am mad, it is a wonderful madness."

Thor waved gaily at them, and continued blasting. Even under water the bombs kept exploding. Thor was having a wonderful time. Tony was feeling very good too. This would teach the bad people a lesson.


	6. Popsicle

This heaven had blue people who had eyes the color of candied cherries. Tony came here because it was a cold heaven and he wanted to teach Fluffy how to snow. The little blue cherubs didn't sing hosannah, but they had fun, play-fighting with icicle swords and some of them could change the way they look. Before long there were a dozen Cherub Tonys and Fluffy got so confused he flew himself into a knot.

All the Tonys turned back into their normal blue and scattered when a nursery Angel approached. Tony looked up. And up. And up. And then up higher. "Oh! You're really big." Tony was impressed.

The big blue angel bent down to look at Tony. "Are you lost, little Midgardian?"

"Uh uh," Tony said. Just then, Fluffy proudly produced a flurry of snowflakes. Tony giggled as the flakes settled on the head and shoulders of the angel. "You look like a blueberry popsicle! I like blueberry," he added, in case the angel felt bad.

The angel sat down next to Tony on one of the ice rocks this nursery had instead of pillows. His lips moved slightly as if he wasn't used to smiling. "My name is Laufey, once king of the Jotun."

"Please to meet cha!" Tony said, holding out his hand the way Momma said gentlemen should do when they meet. "I'm Tony! I fix things!"

Laufey's almost smile widened as he gently took Tony's hand between two of his fingers. "You are a brave little one." Laufey sighed as he released Tony's hand. "My son is like you, great in courage, but lacking in stature."

Tony frowned. "Why's he need a statue?"

Laufey laughed. "Because he was born to rule. He should have monuments reaching into the sky in his honor. Beautiful warrior maidens fighting to be his queen. The glory of leading our troops into battle!" His eyes glowed bright red.

"You like to fight?" Tony had met other warrior angels. Sometimes even when they weren't chasing him out of forbidden gardens.

"It is how my people survive, Tony. We are tested, and tested again. Our land is a harsh one, and we must be unyielding." Laufey frowned. "As a babe, my son was left in the temple for his first test. He was lost. Taken from us."

"Oh." Tony patted Laufey on the leg, trying to comfort him. "You'll see him again. He'll come here."

Laufey shook his head. "He will not. His heritage was taken from him. His spirit is confused, as stunted by the unnatural environment as his body. I fear he shall not be accepted by his adoptive heaven, either, but shall forever be lost to the void of limbo."

Tony didn't understand. "He's goin' to Hell?"

"It... is possible. He committed no Jotun sins, but he strives to be an Asgardian, although it is an ill-fitting cloak. I was so proud when I entered heaven and was told that my killer was my son."

"And that's a good thing?" Tony thought heaven was nice, but killing people to send them there wasn't nice. It was confusing, but there it was.

"Of course! It is how the Jotun king is chosen! When I thought my son dead, I mourned that I should be killed by a stranger, and all my monuments overturned and defaced. Loki did well, he tricked me and slew me without mercy." Laufey smiled, but his smile vanished quickly. "But instead of claiming the Jotun throne, he tries to rule Asgard, and intends to destroy Jotunheim!"

"That's bad," Tony said. "He will go to Hell." He thought a moment. "Loki? Do you mean Thor's brother?"

"No. But yes, that is what he was told." Laufey looked seriously at Tony. "Have you seen Loki?"

"No, but I know Thor. I could find him and he can find Loki." Tony didn't know why so many angels were 'stay at homes', but he'd noticed that hardly any of them left their heavens, no matter what. He'd carried messages lots of times. "Thor said he was going to try to make peace with the Jotun."

Laufey shrugged. "Well, some sacrifices must be made. There are other realms the Jotun could battle. Tell Loki that he has already a kingdom waiting to bow down before him." Laufey twisted his hand and a glowing blue book appeared. "This contains all I know of ruling, of which warriors he may rely upon and which are the most suitable candidates to be queen." Laufey grinned. "I expect grandchildren, gloriously fierce children to keep Loki alert until the best of them sends him to join me."

"All right!" Tony took the book and whistled Fluffy down. "Bye, Laufey!" 

 

"Hello, Thor!" Tony said when he and Fluffy arrived at Asgard. Fluffy went over to flirt with the Rainbow Bridge with Tony flying next to him. Thor was on the bridge, holding hands with a man who didn't feel the same as Thor, so Tony figured he was Loki. "Oh, Loki! Hi!"

Loki glanced at Tony and sneered. Then he let go of Thor. 

"FLUFFY! Catch!" Tony shouted even as Thor cried out in anguish.

Loki landed on Fluffy and bounced. Tony flitted over. "Good boy, Fluffy."

"Why have you interfered?" Loki snapped. He looked like he was planning to jump off of Fluffy. Thor looked like he was going to use Mjolnir to follow him.

"Your daddy asked me to tell you to go home." Tony offered Loki the blue book. "There's a throne, and pretty girls and STATUES!"

"Odin's not my father."

"No, no, Laufey! He says that you killed him so good you're king now."

"What?" Loki asked.

"Yes! There's gonna be bowing, and parades and fireworks and CAKE!" Tony was pretty sure if you were king, you got cake.

"Cake?" Loki's eyebrows raised. Then he blinked. "The Jotun would bow down to me?"

"Uh huh!" Tony said enthusiastically. Then he thought a moment. "And he said you should stop fighting with Thor, because he's your brother. Sort of?"

Loki glanced at Thor, who was wearing his best hopeful puppy expression. Loki sighed. "If I must, I must." He opened the blue book and smiled a tiny, self-satisfied smirk. "I was made to rule."

And then Fluffy snowed on the rainbow bridge. Fluffy liked to show off.


End file.
